Monday, February 22, 2010

CNBC reported that per U.S. Treasury data, foreign demand for U.S. Treasury securities fell by the largest amount on record in December with China reducing its holdings by $34.2 billion.

The reductions in holdings, if they continue, could force the government to make higher interest payments at a time that it is running record federal deficits. This could be the leading indicator of a precipitous drop in demand for U.S. debt, and absolutely reinforces the need to FREEZE THE BUDGET NOW!

Per CNBC, The Treasury Department reported that foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell by $53 billion in December, surpassing the previous record of a $44.5 billion drop in April 2009. The big drop in China's holdings meant that it lost the top spot in terms of foreign ownership of U.S. Treasuries, dropping to second place behind Japan.

Japan also reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries, cutting them by $11.5 billion to $768.8 billion in December, but that amount was still more than China's December total of $755.4 billion. The $53 billion decline in holdings of Treasury securities came primarily from a drop in official government holdings, which fell by $52.3 billion. The holdings of foreign private investors fell by $700 million during the month of December. [more…]

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Health Care "Reform" continues high in the news this week with President Obama’s upcoming Health Care Summit. What’s important to realize is true health care reform requires free market solutions. More government controls, regulations, mandates, and subsidies will only create more inefficiencies, higher costs for health care, higher costs for health care insurance, lower incentives for medical innovations, lower quality, and eventually, rationing of health care services. Individuals will also find their economic and personal freedom restricted further. It’s true our health care system is broken and needs to be fixed. But, government is the problem, not the solution. Government tax policies as well as regulations and subsidies currently are blocking the health care market from functioning effectively. Giving consumers greater choices through competition (among both medical providers and health care insurers) will spur innovation, encourage price reductions, and improve the quality of health care. [more…]

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Greece is the insolvent, bankrupt country that threatens to bring down the entire EU (European Union) with its exploding and toxic national debt. But it's just one of the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain). The EU is damned if they do, damned if they don't. If they choose to bail out Greece in order to save the union, soon they'll have much bigger bankrupt nations to deal with (Portugal and Spain are next in a long Conga line). There isn't enough money in all the world to bail out all of them. The EU is in big trouble.

But the real problem is that Greece isn't the worst Greek tragedy on the horizon. Greece is only "the canary in the coal mine." The United States is one big fat Greek tragedy. We are Greece-SQUARED. All the same problems that plague Greece, plague this country - huge national deficits and debt; high unemployment; gigantic entitlement programs; too many government employees; not enough tax revenues coming in; endless bailouts and stimulus; and pension and healthcare systems (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) that threaten to eat every dollar of the budget. Just the interest on our national debt is enough to destroy our economy. It's all a Greek tragedy.

America is Greece- except on a much grander scale. Our economic collapse is still a year or two down the road. Obama is laughing, celebrating, dancing and handing out gifts (stimulus, bailouts, entitlements, corporate welfare) at a big fat Greek wedding… oblivious to the coming economic Armageddon… oblivious to the madness of his plan - to triple down on spending to save us from insolvency. [more…]

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

New Washington Post Poll Says Americans Now Believe Government Wastes 53 Cents of Every Dollar Spent - Can This Voter Discontent Spur a Bipartisan Compromise on Deficit Reduction, Healthcare and Tort Reform on the Table in Washington?

Can Senator Judd Gregg broker a compromise in healthcare and deficit reduction with the Obama administration and Senate Democrats? Politico reports a very interesting scenario that could attract Senate Republican support. Senator Judd Gregg has chaired the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee as well as the Budget Committee. He remains the ranking Republican on Budget and, as such, is most preoccupied with the burgeoning federal debt. Gregg has repeatedly pressed Democrats to apply the nearly $500 billion in Medicare-related savings in the House and Senate health care bills toward deficit reduction. One option for Obama would be to split the dollars, keeping half to expand health coverage and half to address the long-term solvency of the existing Medicare trust fund. [more from Tim…] [Read the Politico article here…]

Monday, February 8, 2010

I am probably the only politician in America whose day job is Las Vegas oddsmaker. I’ve learned many valuable lessons from sports and sports betting. On Sunday I made a fortune for thousands of my clients by picking the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl upset. Obama, Reid and Pelosi might snicker, but they obviously don’t understand the difference between Vegas and Washington D.C. You know what it is? In Vegas, the drunks gamble with their own money. Maybe we need a politician in D.C. who understands the psychology of winning; who understands the motivation of risk versus reward; who has the guts to take gambles; and the courage to back his convictions with his own money, instead of the taxpayers’ money. Here are the lessons Obama should have learned from yesterday’s Super Bowl [Go Here to Wayne's lessons…]

Consumers believe that President Obama really helped them by signing HR 627. But is it true? This bill exposed consumers to higher annual fees and late fees, decreased credit available on the market, and as a result we all can see less consumer spending which is not helping in today’s economy. More credit – more spending – more jobs and more taxes collected by the government. Do the math. Interchange caps would bring more chaos to our markets and very few people would benefit from the regulation. Merchants would see more annual fees and very expensive customer support which now is free. [more…]

With the release of President’s Obama’s new budget, a critical debate has started to take place. What’s the best way to create new jobs and economic growth? Keynesian economists advocate increased government spending to create demand. Of course, with increased spending, typically comes much higher taxes. Some say that Obama’s new budget will result in $2T (Trillion!) dollars of new taxes over 10 years after a relatively small $150+B dollars in tax cuts is subtracted out. The proposed budget also calls for about $1.6T in deficit spending. New taxes represents “capital consumption” or the transfer of wealth away from the private sector to the government sector. This tax money is money that could have been employed by the economy more efficiently and with a much higher economic multiplier, if spent by the private sector (individuals and businesses). [more…]

Monday, February 1, 2010

Every time I hear a politician say he's going to end tax breaks for companies that export jobs overseas, I just laugh. It's transparent pandering to the UAW and other labor unions and a great talking point, but the Democrats have just never gotten around to enacting it. President Obama trotted out that old horse again in Wednesday's State of the Union speech. But as a Michigander, it's even more humorous knowing that the federal government has bailed out a Michigan-based company, General Motors, that has increasingly been "shipping jobs overseas." According to a May 2009 Washington Post article, GM has been doing that with a vengeance. But silly me. Why am I complaining? After all, a bail out is totally different than a tax break. Isn't it? [more...]

In last week's State of the Union address, President Obama talked about tackling the deficit, but CNN reports today that the budget he will announce later this morning for fiscal 2011 will push the deficit to a record $1.6 trillion this year. IS THERE ANY BETTER REASON THAN THIS TO "FREEZE THE BUDGET NOW, AND BALANCE THE BUDGET WITHIN FIVE YEARS?

Re-Build America as an Economic Powerhouse

The prevailing concern of Americans today is that the United States of America has lost its vaunted position as a global economic powerhouse, becoming a debtor nation which cannot fulfill either the long-term financial growth requirements of a vibrant country or the retirement needs of its citizens. How did the world’s greatest economic and social power lose its way?

We began as a nation with a purity of purpose. Our Constitution adheres to a fundamental thesis - “to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

That foundation was critical to the birth of this nation at a time when there were many divergent interests, each wanting to protect their own regions and economic interests, yet knowing the future lay in “a more perfect union.”

Today, that Union our forefathers envisioned is compromised by competing agendas, dangerous turf wars, and divergent economic drains that threaten to rip apart the fabric of this country we hold so dear. The cacophony of special interests, the blatant rhetoric of political infighting, and the financial damage done to our country in the process is damaging our national heritage and endangering the very future of our children and the nation. [more...]

America's Economic War - Your Freedom, Money and LifeA Citizen's Handbook for Understanding the War between American Capitalism and Socialism
By Gerard Lameiro, Ph.D.

President Obama unveiled a multi-trillion-dollar spending plan today guaranteeing America trillion-dollar-plus deficits for three consecutive years as we Americans tighten our belts more than ever to meet our own expenses. But how will the decisions the administration makes today affect us and future generations?

Are you struggling to understand what's really going on in the American economy today? Do you want to know if our economy will turn around quickly, or get bogged down in a bad recession... or, worse, collapse into a ten-year depression? Do you want to understand why we confront a constant stream of bad economic reports and financial crises? Why we face increasing inflation with mounting food and energy prices? Why our leaders engage in fierce political battles with one another? Do you want to understand why American culture and morality are in steep decline?

Economist and economic growth expert, Gerard Francis Lameiro, addresses all these questions and many more in this clearly written, easy-to-understand, and vitally important book that identifies and describes America's Economic War. In his engaging style and with his optimistic vision and uncanny ability to make the complex very simple, Dr. Lameiro describes in riveting detail:

America's economic war between American capitalism and socialism that is raging across our country today;

The 47 major and three special battles taking place right now that are dramatically impacting American culture, government, and the American economy; and

The serious risks to you and your family's freedom, money and lives.

America's Economic War is a test of America's moral strength and courage, a test of its Constitutional principles, and a test of its great engine of economic freedom and prosperity. This book will help you get a solid understanding of America's economic war and how American capitalism can help all of us to achieve a brighter future for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.

You might not realize it right now because you are busy with work or school or family concerns, but you and your family's freedom, money and life are all at risk today. America's Economic War is raging and changing everything about life in America. Each and every one of us is dramatically impacted. Yet, few of us recognize that America's Economic War is taking place at all. Indeed, fewer still understand the causes of the war, or its impact and potential dangers.

About the Author: Economist, economic growth expert and CEO of Lameiro Economics LLC, a company focused on bringing practical economic knowledge about freedom, economic growth and prosperity to America and to the world, Dr. Lameiro was previously a member of Hewlett-Packard's Strategy and Corporate Development team, President of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), and an Assistant Professor in Colorado State University's College of Business.